Charlamagne tha God was spitting facts and stunned Anderson Cooper during a Thursday night appearance on CNN’s AC360. Charlamagne blasted the network’s portrayal of Donald Trump, and pointed out double standards when it comes to Kamala Harris.
Cooper was going on about how Trump is showing us who he is every day, but Charlamagne was quick to shut him down, responding, “which is a fascist.” “When somebody questions Kamala Harris’ Blackness, you all will have roundtable discussions about that, asking that question, how can we not having roundtable discussion asking is Donald Trump a fascist? Actually, not even asking it, stating it… How come that is not the topic of discussion on networks like CNN, everyday?”
Charlamagne’s bombshell left Cooper sputtering, which prompted him to switch the conversation to Trump’s scheduled appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. “Apparently Trump is going to tape a thing with Joe Rogan, do you think she [Kamala] should do that?” Charlamagne, being who he is, replied, “I think she should keep calling Donald Trump a fascist. I think Americans need to keep looking at the rhetoric of Donald Trump because I don’t know why we’re even thinking about electing somebody who’s talking about putting people in camps.”
Cooper, thinking he avoided Charlamagne’s criticism of CNN, attempted to bring the topic back to Harris and Rogan. But Charlamagne wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily, “Now, you brought it back to Kamala and Joe Rogan, Anderson, who gives a damn?” This exchange made Cooper laugh and stutter. To save the network some face, Cooper insisted that CNN has addressed Trump’s fascist actions, but Charlamagne challenged him again. “I feel like I heard more on this network about ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ then I do about Donald Trump being a fascist.”
Cooper’s attempts to clarify CNN’s position and distance the network from fringe views about Harris didn’t convince Charlamagne at all. “That’s bullshit, Anderson, for you to say that y’all don’t have those conversations,” he replied. Charlamagne continued to argue that all major media outlets, CNN included, have yet to fully address Trump’s role as what he called “a threat to democracy.”
We all know that Charlamagne can say anything to anyone. But this CNN appearance was particularly enjoyable to watch live. Seeing Cooper try and fail to bait Charlamagne into the usual CNN rhetoric was the most entertaining thing we’ve seen in politics in a good while. Charlamagne has that “zero-bulls***t” attitude, and he didn’t change for CNN’s Cooper. We can’t think of another celebrity brave enough to go at CNN like this.
Charlamagne is a comedian, but if you stop and listen to what he said during the AC360 appearance, he wasn’t joking at all. CNN indeed pays more attention to Trump’s gaffes than his dangerous politics. Meanwhile, Republican and Democrat-leaning media outlets have both covered the discussion about Harris’ race. We rarely ever see anyone point out Trump’s fascist tendencies on live television, and even if they do, Trump supporters are quick to shut them down.
“Fascist” is a word that strikes fear into those who hear it, and we shouldn’t be throwing it around with zero accountability. But if there’s enough evidence to put someone in that bracket, especially a politician running for president, it’s absolutely worth digging into a discussion about.
